


Loneliness Unbinded

by Rysama



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Abandonment, Alternate Universe - Dark, Anger, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Bitterness, Break Up, Distrust, Escape, F/F, F/M, Fear, Freedom, Gen, Going Home, Happy Ending, Homesickness, Isolation, Leaving Hell, Light Angst, M/M, Misery, Multi, Other, Partner Betrayal, Personal hell, Plotting, Polyamorous Character, Running Away, Sad, Sad Ending, Sadness, Separations, coming home, disgust, disobedient
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 15:29:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18318083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rysama/pseuds/Rysama
Summary: Definitely Major Spoilers in SOME way.Basically if you had ended up with Nadia's reversed ending, but you're in love with (an unnamed) someone else in a route that's pretty much a combination of all of them.





	Loneliness Unbinded

How did it come to this?

  
At first it was all about Lucio. Just figuring out who killed him on that fateful night was supposed to be all. But things... Things could never be so cut and dry, could they?

It was nerve wracking at first, but Asra was gentle as always-- and patient, giving you advice and reassurance all the way through. Julian, while difficult to start (with his awful habit of self-blame) evolved and learned himself along side you. And Portia? Everything that you might have needed, including rest, she made sure you got.

As for Muriel, Mazelinka, and the Prakran royal family- They were a colorful bunch that made your heart warm in a peaceful way, even if hadn't been that much time. The moments spent with each of them gave you many puzzle pieces that when put together, made you feel the most whole you'd been since coming back to life.

True, Nadia's moments with you had been fabulous too. She was strong, vocal, and didn't let people disrespect you. It's just... Somewhere along the way, she lost her path. She had assured the others that as Countess it was her job to be the most proactive in the situation. She started leaving them out and keeping major decisions between the two of you. You had been trying to support her the best you could, make her trust you and your capabilities but that's not what happened. It is... A genuinely horrible pity that you didn't realize this until she was taking Lucio's life. Her usually beautiful face was scrunched up with disgust and contempt for him as vented her feelings about him, and ended his final moments.

For all of the shit that he had caused, there were great people from your last life and from this one that you wouldn't have met or remembered were it not for him.  
While he definitely shouldn't have gone unpunished, with this in mind, it couldn't have been fitting to kill him. Or maybe it was purely a matter of perspective.

None of it matters now anyway.

Sitting at her cloven feet, wearing the collar of her choosing, for an unknown amount of time with a mind full of disparaging thoughts wouldn't help anything, but you couldn't stand the thought of another day in the shadows. Another day of faceless creatures. Another day of talking to no one and waiting on Nadia's call.

You loved her very much, yes, but she hadn't been your first choice. The person you loved most in this world (or rather, in the real one) simply wasn't her. The tender moments that you had shared with Nadia were great, but you only had them in the hopes of bringing her into your already established relationship. Never would you have chosen her exclusively, not over what you already had. "Like another link to a chain" Your love had remarked when you first discussed it, back before Nadia's ambitions had swallowed her whole.

You knew what you had to do to get out of this. It pained you to have to do it, but isolated in this world of darkness you'd loose your sanity. After all, who could possibly continue to live in a world where only one other real person exists? You trained your magic every single day for a future goal; the moment where you pushed through the gates to allow you and Nadia to finally emerge back into the light of the real world but... There was no way that the people that had become your family would be able to feel safe and be trusting, not with Nadia in this form, this version of herself. There was also no way that you would be able to separate yourself from her and return to your True Love and lick the wounds gained from this mistake. She wouldn't allow it; as a human, you speaking to her sister on a silent carriage ride constituted betrayal. How would she react when she found out that you didn't love each other equally?

  
On the day where your power had reached the peak necessary to do what needed to be done, you were ready. Nadia rose from her throne and a glittering golden rope that you had been carefully weaving in secret with your magic since your arrival materialized and pulled her back down. She didn't even see it coming. The light of your power wrapped around her tightly and held on. Her struggle was one of futility, as the Fool's power overrode that of any deal. Her eyes flashed hurt, anguish, fury... And then nothing. "Indeed, I was right." She said as her form began to coalesce into stone. "In the end, there is only one I can trust."

And there she remained. A stone monument for the fortress of solitude that she had so insistently built around herself, face smug and knowing and validation written clearly across it, as she had in her final moments confirmed her own negative thoughts.

  
You pushed the gates of that dreaded realm open and stepped back into the vast field of reality, lifting a weight off your chest. The smell of fresh air, the feeling of sun kissing your skin, the wind blowing through your hair, and color all around you; It felt right for the first time in seemingly an eternity. This was where you were meant to be. And this was where you would live a life full of joys and sorrows alike to the fullest of your abilities, with the right people.

**Author's Note:**

> I initially really liked Nadia, and I got Upright endings the first go for all of the characters. When I was working towards the reversed ending for her I had to change the majority of my choices and it irritated the hell outta me. Other than the fact that bitch sacrifices us-- My OC being boiled down to Nadia's personal property really drives me. Don't get me wrong, I love the power imbalance (hence Julian and Lucio being my two favorite characters) -- However! I feel as though MC being required to never leave Nadia's side means she doesn't trust that they won't try to leave her; just that they're obedient. Even though the dialogue says she loves them, I personally relate her behavior to obsession. Like Yandere or something("Bitch, you crazy!"). That being said, the idea of being cordoned off for personal uses with disagreement or break up potentially leading to ones death because folks feel betrayed or abandoned (or whatever), does not appeal to my inner thirsty hoe. Just saying. Rant over, Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
